A Major Discovery
by Soren2526
Summary: An Other lands on the island, Soren has lost someone close. But that isn't all of what happens in this tale.
1. The Other

A Major Discovery

**DISCLAIMER: **I don't own the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series and all of the characters in the books. I do own the characters Cory, Max, Holly, Rikard, Anna, Hugh, Robert, and Onyx as well as their personalities and descriptions.

_This story takes place two years after the War of the Ember The flashback occurs five moon cycles prior to the main story._

One night as my mate and were about to fall asleep, one of our chicks piped up and asked for a story. This is the tale I told.

(FLASHBACK)

It was a dark and cloudy night about five moon cycles ago when the Other came. It said that it was forced out onto our island. He came from the sky on this silk hemisphere and landed on the beach right near our hollow. Otulissa was the first to see him.

"Holy Glaux! An Other, but they are extinct. How can that be?" she wondered aloud.

This particular Other, who's name was Lieutenant Michael G. Siskin, didn't hear the owl speaking, because Others didn't have very good hearing.

"I need to report this to the parliament. Soren needs to know." And Otulissa flew off to the parliamentary hollow. She barged in, interrupting an important meeting.

"Otulissa, can't you see that we are quite busy?" Gylfie said.

"There's something way more important on the beach near the southern part of the tree. An Other."

"Are you hallucinating? The Others went extinct tens of thousands of years ago." Twilight said with skepticism in his voice.

"No, you need to see it NOW!"

"Alright, we'll go and meet this Other." Soren ordered, speaking for the first time since Otulissa had entered.

The parliament flew down to the beach and arranged themselves in the semicircle that they normally did, with Soren and Pelli in the center of the arc. Each owl there introduced themselves and explained what they did at the tree.

Michael then introduced himself as an officer in the United States Navy and asked where he was.

"You are on the beach of the island of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, in the center of the Sea of Hoolemere." Soren explained, "Welcome."

"I'm where exactly?" Michael wondered.

Soren asked Gylfie if she could fetch a map from the library, which she did.

"You are here, on this island. It is surrounded by an ocean named Hoolemere." Gylfie explained to Michael.

He explained that he was on patrol for German submarines when one of them shot down his plane and he was forced to bail out. He explained what the silk thing was, a 'parachute' he called it. He showed all of his equipment, including a silk map that showed his world.

The King and Queen, by a unanimous vote, formed a new chaw that studied the Others in-depth, with trips to the Navy base nearby.

(END FLASHBACK)

"And that is how the Others know of us and we know of them" I explained to my three hatchlings, Robert, Anna, and Hugh.

"There must be more! There must be!" Anna cried out, for she wanted more stories.

"That will be for another night. Now off to bed, all of you. That includes you, Cory." My mate said.

"Just a minute, Bash. The King needs me." I called back as I flew out of the hollow.

Less than a minute later, I landed in the royal hollow. Soren was still awake. He hadn't left the hollow in three moon cycles. He was very depressed.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Your Majesty. Pelli was a good owl and friend to me, as well as a good mate to you." I said.

_**To be continued…..**_


	2. The Loss

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series or any of the characters in the books. I do own the characters Cory, Max, Holly, Rikard, Anna, Hugh, Robert, and Onyx as well as their personalities and descriptions.

_This story takes place two years after the War of the Ember. The flashback occurs a moon cycle prior to this part of the story._

"I'm sorry for your loss, Your Majesty. Pelli was a good owl." I told Soren, who had been in his hollow for the past moon cycle. After five minutes of awkward silence, he spoke.

"She should have never gone out that night. The storm was too strong even for the owls of the weather chaw to handle." He said, his voice breaking.

(FLASHBACK)

"FORM UP CHAW! TONIGHT, WE ARE FLYING INTO A MASSIVE THUNDERSTORM. STAY IN THE GUTTER AND WATCH OUT FOR HOOLSPYRRS!"

The wind was so fierce that the owls could barely hear Soren as he shouted the order.

A young but skilled owl named Morgan shouted, "I don't think this is a good idea! Hoolspyrrs are tricky to fly through even in perfect weather!"

Ruby, flying tail to make sure that no owl got left behind, noticed for the first time there was an owl following them.

"No inexperienced owl is foolish enough to be out here in this slop." She thought and powered forward to warn Soren.

As soon as she got there, Soren told her that the owl following them was Pelli.

"How do you know?"

"I dreamed it. At first, I thought that it wasn't going to happen, but it is. She isn't supposed to be out here unless there is something important to tell me. She could die in these winds."

Little did Soren know that his last sentence would come true.

As Pelli willed herself to warn Soren of the impending danger, there was a new adversary. The wind. She had just reached the coastline of Silverveil, near the foul-weather hollow in a tall spruce. As she angled in to land, a maverick wind sucked her out to sea. Soren heard someone calling his name and realized it was Pelli. He pulled the largest owl in the chaw out of the hollow and they flew on to rescue Pelli.

They flew for what seemed like hours. The other owl, Max, spotted something desperately trying to stay clutched to a floating log.

"Soren, look."

Those two words instantly grabbed Soren's attention.

"Go. You're a fish owl. You can dive in and grab my mate without drowning."

Max dove down. He managed to pick the limp form of Pelli out of the Sea of Hoolemere and they continued on to the tree. Ruby had joined up with the two owls and assumed command of the chaw. As they flew, Soren tried to talk to Pelli, but she was unconscious.

After reaching the tree and taking Pelli to the infirmary, Soren decided to stay and take care of his mate.

Three days passed. Every attempt to revive Pelli failed. After another three days, her eyes fluttered open. What she thought she said was 'What happened?' but what came out was more like a low grunt than anything.

"Pelli! Thank Glaux that you're alive!" Soren was ecstatic. His mate was alive! Suddenly, as he wrapped her in his wings, Pelli started coughing, low at first, then becoming a loud wheezing. As she tried to speak, she took her last breath and died.

"There was nothing we could do, Soren." Gylfie offered.

(END FLASHBACK)

"Pelli had just laid three more eggs. She probably would have laid another two is she hadn't died." Soren said in a depressed voice.

I think you should find a new mate. You look lonely." I said.

Then, out of nowhere, Soren shouted.

"Who's there?"

My mate, Bash, poked her head in.

"Cory, Da, it's just me. Come on dear, we need our rest. So does our King."

"Okay. Should I come tomorrow, Your Majesty?"

"Yes, that would be nice. I do agree, I need a new mate."

"Alright. I'll come to your hollow at First Black."

_**To be continued…**_


	3. The Owlet

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series or any of the characters in the books. I do own the characters Cory, Max, Holly, Rikard, Anna, Hugh, Robert, and Onyx as well as their personalities and descriptions.

_This story takes place two years after the War of the Ember._

As I had promised, I was at Soren's hollow at First Black. After eating tweener, we set off in search of a new mate for Soren. We flew to Tyto, looking for any females that were single. We found one, but she wasn't interested. So, with determination, we flew on throughout the owl kingdoms. It seemed that almost every owl had a mate. After returning to the tree, we landed in the Great Hollow and perched in one of the upper balconies. After waiting for what seemed like hours, a lonely female Barn Owl flew in and perched near Soren.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce yourself?" I asked him.

"Okay, I will. (To the other owl) Hi, I'm Soren." He said.

"Hi. I'm Holly. I got here a couple of moon cycles ago." She said.

"I got here over five years ago. I flew in with my friends. We're nicknamed 'the Band'."

After talking for the rest of the night, they set up a date. It went well. The next one, not so much. Holly forgot and Soren was so nervous that he couldn't go even if he was forced to. Weeks went by. Soren noticed that Holly disappeared for days at a time. After the third disappearance, Soren flew after her at a safe distance. After a couple of minutes, he realized that Holly was going to the Shadow Forest. There was nothing there except a Rogue smith and a couple of grog trees. She angled towards the border with St. Aggie's.

Holly landed in a large spruce and found her hollow. Her actual mate, a Snowy named Rikard, was waiting inside on a nest with three eggs.

"Evening, Rikard. I managed to slip away without anyone noticing. How are the eggs?"

"Two haven't changed at all since you laid them. However, one is developing."

They don't know that the one egg that isn't sterile would be taken by Soren and taken care of.

"Shall we go on the hunt, dear?"

"Yes."

And so the two owls, one a Barn, the other a Snowy, flew off to find food for their small family. After they left, Soren entered the hollow. He saw the three eggs and noticed the largest one started to shudder. Without thinking, he grabbed an egg from an abandoned nest and took the shuddering egg with him back to the tree. After reaching the tree, he called for Mrs. Plithiver, his ancient nest-maid snake.

"What would you like me to do, Soren?" She asked; the thrill of service coursing through her.

"I need help raising this egg. The original parents couldn't have done it."

"Of course, Soren. One question, where did you find this egg?"

"The Shadow Forest, near the border with St. Aggie's. The owls who laid this are a Snowy and a Barn. They probably laid it about a moon cycle ago."

"I heard a piece of gossip from Audrey that she has been known to flirt with another owl when she has a mate."

Three nights went by and the egg didn't move at all. Another four went by and the egg shook once or twice. After the tenth night, the egg shook so hard that it seemed like it was going to break. Finally, after waiting for twenty nights, the egg finally started to hatch.

"Mrs. Plithiver! Get Gylfie!" Soren shouted out of his hollow.

Gylfie flew in almost immediately.

"What is it, Soren?"

"The egg that I rescued in the Shadow Forest is hatching."

After rocking for a couple of minutes, the egg tooth punched through. The egg split soon after. The slimy blob that came out was odd. Instead of a normal beak like a Barn Owl, it was black. The chick's eyes were the richest color of yellow instead of black. Its talons were huge and were completely feathered.

"What shall we call her, Soren?"

"How about Onyx, for the color of her beak."

"That's beautiful. She looks like a hybrid between a Snowy and Barn Owl."

"Yes, that's true. Her father is a Snowy and her mother is a Barn Owl."

Onyx grew into a beautiful owl. She was larger than most female Barn Owls. She had very faint coloring, with occasional black bars inherited from her father. Onyx was intelligent and learned very quickly. Due to her intelligence, she was put in many advanced classes, including Ga'Hoolology. It was during one class that a Great Grey called her a 'half-breed'.

_**To be continued…**_


End file.
